‘Doc’ Antle laundered money for ‘operation illegally smuggling immigrants’, feds allege
Bhagavan “Doc” Antle, one of the stars of the Netflix documentary series “Tiger King,” is facing federal money laundering charges related to an alleged Mexican smuggling operation.
The smuggling operation was in reality part of a sting operation organized through a confidential informant, according to the complaint.
The complaint against Antle, owner of Myrtle Beach Safari, and his employee, Andrew Jon Sawyer, was unsealed Monday following their initial appearances at a federal courtroom in Florence, South Carolina.
The two are accused of laundering $505,000 in cash during the past four months believed to be the proceeds of an operation illegally smuggling immigrants across the Mexican border into the United States, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Both will remain incarcerated pending a bond hearing, which was set for 2:30 p.m. Thursday. That is also when the judge scheduled a preliminary hearing. The U.S Attorney’s Office is recommending they remain detained.
Antle and Sawyer provided checks from their businesses that falsely claimed they were for construction work being performed at Myrtle Beach Safari, also known as The Institute for Greatly Endangered and Rare Species (T.I.G.E.R.S.), the news release states. But the checks were actually just a way to allow the recipients to appear to have legitimate income, while Antle and Sawyer received about 15% fee of any money laundered, federal authorities allege.
They kept $73,500, according to the complaint.
Antle allegedly discussed his plan to explain the cash by inflating the number of visitors to Myrtle Beach Safari, and claiming that he had used bulk cash receipts in the past to purchase animals in transactions where he couldn’t use checks, according to the release.
Both were arrested Friday by the Federal Bureau of Investigations and booked into J. Reuben Long Detention Center in Horry County.
Antle, 62, and Sawyer, 52 — who also goes by Omar Sawyer — each face up to 20 years in federal prison if convicted.
For Antle, that could mean joining fellow “Tiger King’ star Joe Maldonado-Passage, better known as Joe Exotic, who was previously sentenced to 22 years in prison for attempting to hire someone to murder Carole Baskin, an outspoken animal rights activist who operates a big cat sanctuary near Tampa, Florida.
Confidential informant and another arrest
A third man arrested by the FBI Friday in Horry County also appeared in court Monday.
William James “Bill” Dallis, of Murrells Inlet, was also charged with money laundering, according to the federal complaint, but the judge granted him unsecured $75,000 bond with location monitoring.
Dallis, who owns a Myrtle Beach-area general contracting business called S & D General Contractors, first contacted a confidential informant with the the U.S. Department of Homeland Security during October 2019 about assisting Antle with a $200,000 check cashing venture.
This instance appears to initiate the FBI’s investigations of Antle and Sawyer, and Dallis is referred to as “Myrtle Beach Launderer” throughout the complaint accusing them of money laundering.
That 2019 deal ended up falling through, but the confidential informant later helped execute the sting operation involving the purported immigrant smuggling operation that are the basis of the federal charges.
Antle facing animal cruelty, trafficking charges
Antle has long drawn criticism from animal advocacy groups, including People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, though he became more of well known figure nationally after being featured in “Tiger King,” which first aired during March 2020.
During the initial series and a follow-up that focuses more on Antle, the Myrtle Beach-area exhibitor is accused of running a cult, euthanizing tiger cubs and inappropriate relationships with underage girls. He has publicly denied all the allegations and never faced charges related to any of those accusations.
Antle is also facing multiple felony and misdemeanor charges related to animal trafficking and animal cruelty in Virginia. A trial on those charges is set to begin Oct. 31, according to online court records.
This story was originally published June 6, 2022 at 3:00 PM.
